Truth About CAI Systems

ponyX2 · Jul 11, 2006

I have read where all the manufacturers say their CAI systems are worth 20 horse power at the rear wheels and others say they are not worth the money. Any truth to either myth?

kramer03gt · Jul 11, 2006

Defintily a myth, there are other elements you have to take into account when just slapping on a CAI, then you would want to do TB, Plemium, exhaust, etc. being all works hand in hand if you upgrade one part of it most of the time you should look at the rest of it.. and atleast on the 2v motors you wont see that much HP maybe 5-8 otherwise the 4v execpt them a little better, so you will get more power out of them.

Kilgore Trout · Jul 11, 2006

First mod should be gears, exhaust, or shifter.

ponyX2 · Jul 11, 2006

I was begining to think it was BS, thanks for the input

Kilgore Trout · Jul 11, 2006

Just take out your Intake Air Silencer and install a K&N air filter.

JRFlurry114 · Jul 11, 2006

It is all BS!! Most "cold" air intakes get very very hot which is the opposite of what there for. and the cfm flow is very close to just a K&N filter. One of my buddies swapped out his stock plus K&N and silencer removed intake with a Mac straight shot "cold" air intake....dyno proven loss of three HP and torque didn’t change.

Stang|ess · Jul 11, 2006

don't they extensively mod the car, save for the intake, dyno, then add an intake and dyno?

if so, I can believe an intake adding xx rwhp on a blown car.

Yellow2002GT · Jul 11, 2006

If you bolt on any exhaust or intake part on your car it will effect the tune I.E. the A/f ratio's.....the parts have can net big gains but without a dyno tune you won't see them! A complete intake setup I.E plenum/tb/ intake/maf could net you 35+ rwhp with a dyno tune just not where you might think! In the 4000+ range is where you will see the difference! You could can 10-15 on top end just need full exhaust to get better top end gains! Cam's would be the best way to go!

"ED"

tomustang · Jul 11, 2006

I've heard Velocity Donuts work

Kilgore Trout · Jul 11, 2006

http://forums.stangnet.com/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=257

Miles · Jul 11, 2006

tomustang said:
I've heard Velocity Donuts work

There's a video on myspace of someone shoving a leaf blower into the air intake and gaining about 5hp on the dyno - you're probably better off doing that dude vs a CAI.

Pretty much every mod that comes to mind is better than a CAI - look at my long list, notice I haven't even bother yet? Save the cash

stangGT97 · Jul 12, 2006

CAI = garbage, my car runs better with the silencer removed and a Motorcraft paper filter

01Steeda · Jul 12, 2006

Miles said:
Pretty much every mod that comes to mind is better than a CAI - look at my long list, notice I haven't even bother yet? Save the cash

Same here.. i have not even considered getting a CAI.. and now i dont need one lol

but in all honesty the intakes of our cars ae pretty efficent for the motor until u get above the 400hp range...flywheel. then the TB and Plenum can net some decent gains.. but a CAI is junk.

RoadconeTuning · Jul 12, 2006

i noticed an increse in UPPER RPM when i just had my JLT CAI... im not saying that i picked up 50hp but i would say a good 10hp was felt close to redline... and that was the only mod other than the flowmaster mufflers i had at the time...

Demolet, JLT & K&N FIPK are the only ones i would consider and after researching for a while i decided on the JLT CAI...

stangGT97 · Jul 12, 2006

RoadconeTuning said:
im not saying that i picked up 50hp but i would say a good 10hp was felt close to redline...

the SOTP meter is very inaccurate, especially after just dropping $150+ on something generally deemed useless. The only way to truly tell if there is a gain is to tune the car before and dyno, then retune after install and dyno.

[Twitch] · Jul 12, 2006

Here are some of my findings. It's stock intake with no silencer vs K&N FPIK.

What the K&N does do is:
- Lower intake temperature
- Higher mass air flow

As for how much horsepower that will translate in, I cannot tell.

[Twitch] said:
So i just received my K&N intake and I decide to do a couple of test and datalogs.

Temperature today was 55.4F and the two test were done without one hour of each other. The car used is a 2001 Mustang GT. The stock intake used had the silencer removed.

I did a idle log just to see what the intake temperatures are like. Engine coolant temperatures were the same.

STOCK

IAT MAX : 92F
IAT MIN : 86F
IAT AV : 89.42722266F

ECT MAX : 202F
ECT MIN : 190F
ECT AV : 195.1125098F

MAF MAX : 522GM/S
MAF MIN : 427GM/S
MAF AV : 468.1471282GM/S

K&N FIPK
IAT MAX : 112F
IAT MIN : 90F
IAT AV : 102.4705F

ECT MAX : 202F
ECT MIN : 190F
ECT AV : 195.8300551F

MAF MAX : 565GM/S
MAF MIN : 443GM/S
MAF AV : 489.9677419GM/S

As you can see, the IAT for the K&N is higher than the stock one for obvious reasons. The K&N is fully exposed to the engine compartement as oppsed to the stock one which has a casing around the whole filter. So when the car is not moving, K&N will have a higher IAT.

Also, MAF reading for the K&N are a more than stock(better hope so ).

Here's a graph of both runs at idle for 120 seconds

The next run is a 1 mile higway run from one exit to another. I tried to keep the same speed and driving habits so the data can be relevant.

STOCK

IAT MAX : 110F
IAT MIN : 84F
IAT AV : 91.99381F

ECT MAX : 196F
ECT MIN : 190F
ECT AV : 191.8602F

MAF MAX : 19 910GM/S
MAF MIN : 538GM/S
MAF AV : 2376.385GM/S

K&N FIPK
IAT MAX : 104F
IAT MIN : 68F
IAT AV : 73.77699F

ECT MAX : 202F
ECT MIN : 188F
ECT AV : 191.5991F

MAF MAX : 20 707M/S
MAF MIN : 485GM/S
MAF AV : 2511.444GM/S

Right away you see a differene of 18F in average IATs. Since the K&N filter is more exposed, air flowing through the engine bay can be sucked in by the K&N filter. The stock filter being enclosed in a plastic shell, can only suck air from a small area, close to the fender. With K&N you can get IAT as low as 68F. So, once the car is moving, K&N IAT will dramatically drop and will ahve cooler charge than stock even though it's not a cold air intake kit, jsut the fact it can be in contact with the air outside flowing through the engine bay can reduce IAT.

Here's a graph of both runs. You can see those two fine curves, those are the VSS of both runs, in MPH, so you can see the speed are very close to each other in both runs.

I've got more data but Í'm just too tired to look at it. I hope you guys frind thios useful.

merc123 · Jul 12, 2006

I dropped $89 on a CAI just for the looks of having a "chrome" pipe come out of my polished accufab plenum. The pipe does get hot enough to burn your hand though if you drive for a bit. I have also noticed on really hot days I lose a lot of power.

RoadconeTuning · Jul 12, 2006

your going to lose a lot of power not matter what...

also calling the K&N a Cold air really isnt fair... its more of a "short ram"

when i datalog my car i usually use the IAT as one of the sensors to log and it has never been over 100* because its sucking air from at the bottom of the bumper... i dont think that im gaining HUGE amounts of power but im pretty damn sure that having an engine suck up 100+ degree air at idle isnt good for it even more so if you have a aggressive tune...

i have looked at everything enough for myself to believe that a smooth pipe that is LARGER than stock and is out of the engine bay is going to flow better than the stock rubber hose... and if you are going to say that having a 90* bend before the maf is bad then go w/ the JLT... it relocates the maf into the fender and you suck air from the air filter directly thru the maf THEN have a 90* turn... tho im sure theres someone out there thats going to say something to the effect of the increase of volume between the Mass Air Flow meter and the Throttle body skews the reading of the MAF by .023% if the intake temp is 72.8* F and there is 64.3% humidity and there happens to be a stationary front within 286 miles of 14 miles due east of the cars location....

plain and simple cold, strait air before the maf going into a bigger pipe = more power.... JLT FTW!!!

StompinR1 · Jul 12, 2006

so basically I just bought a cai off ebay last week for nothing? I was so excited to put it on and do the work myself. It was only 40 bucks but after reading this you guys pretty much all agree that its pointless.....

Oh and is there an install guide for just taking off the silencer and not doing the cai? and is it the same for 04?

stangGT97 · Jul 12, 2006

the simple fact is, the stock airbox is more than good enough for an N/A car. When FI comes into play, then yes a CAI will help, but I can't justify $200 for 2hp.

StompinR1 - to take off the silencer, just unclamp the airbox, pull it from the fender and pull the rubber tube that is sticking out of it. Thats all there is to it

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